Apr. 8, 2013

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Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

On Wed., Feb. 27, 2013, a massive explosion occurred in the 4000 block of Cooper Ave. in Royal Oak, Mich. where one 58-year-old man was killed. This is what remains of his home, center, and other homes along this street Thurs., March 14, 2013. / Regina H. Boone/Detroit Free Press

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LANSING — At 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 27, Consumers Energy crew members working to install a new gas main on Cooper Avenue in Royal Oak smelled natural gas and knocked on the front door of the nearest home, where 58-year-old Daniel Malczynski lived.

But there was no answer, according to a report filed Monday by the utility with the Michigan Public Service Commission.

The 7-person crew reported the gas leak and left the site, while Consumers sent a gas service worker to Royal Oak to respond to the leak. Four minutes later, at 5:07 p.m., the house at 4232 Cooper Avenue exploded, killing Malczynski and damaging dozens of homes in the Royal Oak neighborhood.

A Consumers Energy manager arrived on the scene at 5:15 p.m., after feeling the Royal Oak Service Center building on Coolidge Highway – nine blocks from the explosion – shake. The gas service worker dispatched to check out the gas leak arrived at 5:29 p.m.

Those two crews – a three-person boring team and a four-person boring support crew – didn’t follow guidelines set up by Consumers Energy, leading to an explosion that killed a Royal Oak man and damaged dozens of homes in the neighborhood, according to a report filed with the MPSC.

The crew did not excavate and expose all active gas mains in the area, the report from Consumers stated, resulting in damage to a steel gas main in the neighborhood. After the explosion occurred, crews didn’t follow required procedures to ensure the safety of nearby public areas and buildings.

Union and supervisory employees directly involved with the boring operations were fired by the utility, according to the report. Consumers also halted all boring operations following the accident from Feb. 28 to March 7 to ensure the safety of other work happening around the state. An independent field inspector has been assigned to each construction job to make sure standard procedures are followed.

The utility also inspected all the work done by the crew involved in the Royal Oak explosion and found that procedures had been followed at those sites.